Kartik Bommakanti*
From 14-31 October 2022, the Indian Army and the US Army will conduct a high-altitude military operation in Ladakh, not far from the Line of Actual Control (LaC), where active military confrontation between India and the people is ongoing. We are going to do an exercise. Republic of China (PRC). as part of 15th round of Yud Abiyas Joint military exercises showcase the strategies and tactics used by Indian forces in high-altitude or mountain warfare. Similarly, the U.S. Army will showcase technology that can be deployed and used in mountainous terrain.
US technology for use in India
One of the key areas is communication technology that works well in high mountain areas. For starters, the US Army has already begun the process of deploying new Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) technologies for applications in high-altitude environments. Consider the example of the US Army’s Air Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (A-ISR) system. Also known as the Airborne Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System (ARES), this airborne platform recently underwent demonstration trials in India. -Pacific.
The latest evidence suggests that it is still in the tech-demonstration stage, but it won’t be long before full-scale operational deployment takes place. In April 2022, ARES was deployed to the Indo-Pacific for operational employment. ARES is a business jet-based technology demonstrator that assists in real-time information gathering and processing. From an intelligence gathering perspective, ARES helps fulfill the trinity of processing, exploitation, and distribution (PED) elements. Even if the ARES system is merely a technology demonstrator and not ready for operation, let alone for sale, its capabilities could be unveiled to the Indian military during the Yudh Abhyas joint exercise later this October. Beyond the ARES system, there are other technical capabilities the Army can demonstrate.
high platform
This includes what the US Army calls a “passive denied environment” – created by mountain features such as valleys and crests that form natural barriers to radio frequency (RF) and communications relays. – The technology allows soldiers to deploy for operations in rugged mountainous terrain and communicate with senior commanders at great distances. To overcome the obstacles posed by these geological features of the mountain environment, the U.S. Army is testing an “air layer network” consisting of a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles.
These drones are designed to relay downwards and receive signals and communications upwards from the ground, so the signals can “jump” over obstacles, so they are delimited by mountain ridgelines. Enables soldier-to-soldier communication in rugged mountainous battlefields such as two valleys. A network of high airborne platforms (HAPs). Lack of effective communication is likely to be highly disruptive to the conduct of military operations, with soldiers losing contact with each other as well as coordinating and synchronizing responses to enemy actions in the absence of signal relays. Loss of communication between infantry combat units dispersed in mountainous terrain could provide an opportunity for the enemy to carry out ambushes, disrupt troop movements, and bring in reinforcements. It may occur again.
Currently, communication is relayed or transmitted via satellite. However, satellites have the weakness that they are vulnerable to jamming and can be destroyed using dynamic or non-dynamic anti-space capabilities such as anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Pakistan pose constant threats to India, but HAP can be used to deal with them, as they are more flexible in ways satellites cannot. Since the modern battlefield makes heavy use of sensors, supplementing satellite communications via HAP will help track and pinpoint enemy positions, use artillery guns to precisely direct fire, and assist infantry units. and armored units deployed for operations in high altitude terrain. If precision fires are effectively applied against highly dispersed targets in rarefied atmospheric conditions, a key feature of high-altitude terrain, the Americans are likely to take advantage of the high-altitude technology they are likely to showcase. , at least useful, if not essential. Required.
High altitude technology and mountain warfare
From India’s perspective, these high altitude technologies will help the Army to integrate into its operational strategy and tactics for mountain warfare. Precisely, American-developed techniques for mountain warfare may not be immediately available, but the U.S. Army’s demonstration showed what to expect from the Indian military and how these techniques could be used in the field of mountain operations. The Indian Army will also be able to compare the performance of its own ISR capabilities to operations at high altitudes with the United States. The US Army may draw on the Indian Army’s decades of knowledge and experience in high-altitude combat. But Americans are certainly neither amateurs nor greenhorns in this regard. Years of fighting Al-Qaeda terrorist groups and the Taliban in the rugged mountainous terrain of Afghanistan have given America’s ground forces a fair amount of experience.
These technologies can complement India’s own efforts in this area. As the latest reports suggest, India is in the process of acquiring swarm drones to fulfill her ISR capabilities for military operations in mountainous areas. The Indian Army was developed by a duo of Bangalore-based startups to serve his ISR and communications needs for ground forces covering armored, artillery and infantry units deployed in eastern Ladakh. I plan on getting two Swarm Drone sets. These Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) support the Indian Army with communications relays, surveillance data, and intelligence on enemy force movements and deployment patterns, including concealment and deception, to synchronize armored, mechanized, and infantry-based defensive and offensive operations. also helps.
However, it is unknown what electronic warfare (EW) capabilities these drone sets have for action in the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS). A military clash between India and China will occur in a dense electromagnetic environment. Enemy Defense Suppression (SEAD), Electronic Attack (EA), Electronic Support (ES), and Electronic Protection (EP) all dominate the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) in the absence of significant EW capabilities in the Indian Army’s order of battle. important to Or at least prevent the PLA ground forces and air force from taking control of her EMS. If China were to take control of her EMS during a war with India, it would deprive India of situational awareness, communications and guidance for its military’s weapons systems. The U.S. Army is in the process of integrating an Advanced Electronic Warfare-Large (AFEW-AL) pod, most likely installed on the MQ-1 Gray Eagle drone. The Indian Army recommends urging Americans to showcase this ability at the upcoming Yud Abiyas exercise.
Conclusion
Despite Washington’s quest and preference for the Indian Army to procure technology from the United States, India can also develop some of these technologies on its own without significant external support. Rather, the immediate effort should be to assess and determine how effective and relevant American technology is in meeting the unrelenting demands of mountain warfare. Despite the acquisition, they should reserve judgment and wait for the US demonstration. This could reveal the complementarity and strengths and weaknesses of deploying your own swarm drones.
